Steven E. Fox

Steven E. Fox is a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center's College of Medicine, where he directs a research laboratory focused on hippocampal electrophysiology and pharmacology.

His primary research investigates the synaptic mechanisms of hippocampal theta rhythm—a neural oscillation occurring during movement and paced by cholinergic neurons from the medial septal nuclei. Using in vivo recordings in freely-moving rats, his work demonstrates how theta rhythm enhances place field stability through increased firing within location-specific fields and phase-dependent timing shifts. This research directly links cholinergic degeneration to Alzheimer's disease memory deficits, with key studies showing muscarinic receptor blockade degrades spatial firing patterns.

Analysis of his publications (1993-2020) reveals consistent focus on theta rhythm's role in spatial navigation, evolving from foundational current source density analyses to targeted pharmacological dissection of acetylcholine, GABA, and glutamate systems. Recent work establishes that septal circuit integrity is essential for place cell navigation functions, while earlier studies quantified theta-phase modulation of place fields using local neurotransmitter manipulations.

Dr. Fox's laboratory includes Elena S. Brazhnik, Ph.D., as Senior Research Scientist. His team employs unit recording combined with localized drug delivery to isolate synaptic mechanisms while controlling behavioral variables, maintaining rigorous experimental design across decades of research.